+ Sponsors

Monday, 12 June 2017

Doug Mills: 'Sending You a Nice Picture Now'

Presidential administrations often become known by a few iconic photographs—Dirck Halstead's picture of Bill Clinton hugging Monica Lewinsky at a Democratic fundraiser; George W. Bush affecting a military uniform (always a blunder, as it ignores an essential principle of American democracy) underneath the infamous "Mission Accomplished" banner.

Doug Mills may have taken the first such picture of the Trump administration—former FBI Director James Comey testifying in an unusually crowded "216 Hart" (Room 216 of the Hart Senate Office Building).

James B. Comey, the former F.B.I. director, testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday.Credit: Doug Mills/The New York Times. (NYT caption.)

How did he do it? Here's an interview with Doug that includes a description of how he set up and even a picture of himself taking the now-famous picture, captured by one of his own remote cameras.

(Just as a personal aside, I've been a photographer in the press pack at Senate hearings, and, although it's true I never did it enough so that it became routine, I can "testify" that there's a lot of pressure inherent in the situation. The women and men like Doug Mills who not only "get the shot" consistently but manage to make an outstanding picture in circumstances that are constricted in so many ways have really accomplished something. I don't know about you, but my hat's off to Doug.)

Mike(Thanks to Phil)

Original contents copyright 2017 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)Featured Comments from:

Stephen Voss: "A great shot, and the best application of a technique Doug has employed a few times previously. Here's one. But I think the larger takeaway here is less about method and more about his thinking in why this would be the right moment for this kind of shot—that's what makes Doug such a great photographer. Tangentially, I also was photographing that day and it was one of the most crowded hearings I'd ever been to."

Mike replies: Wow, your lead is a great shot too.

Mike Shwarts: "Interesting, but he might want to switch to an Olympus Micro 4/3 and Android phone with the Olympus Share app. You put the phone in a bicycle mount that you attach to the monopod. Then you have a live view and the phone can trip the shutter. I've been doing this lately for a different point of view for static displays at air shows. Takes the guess work out getting the composition correct.

"I think phone remotes with live view that can be used on DSLRs are being developed through Kickstarter."

In several years there will be Canon, Sony, Smart Phones, and numerous film cameras still in use. As long as film is available, film cameras will be viable, and could be long after obsolete digital cameras are sent to the junk pile.

While Doug Mills' shot is great, and benefits from his newspapers generous "how it was made" piece, surely the standout picture this week from that vantage point was made by the Associated Press photographer, Andy Harnik? Even more wide angle than the NYT image, it was widely reproduced.

Harnik's picture is reproduced here, alas tilted, for some reason, but the Chicago Tribune printed it level. I can't find that version online.

Another great result of this post? Discovering Stephen Voss's work! I love the compositions of his photojournalist assignments: they're thoughtful and strikingly different than the standard newspaper fare because of that. And I ordered a copy of his bonsai book too!

I just read an article in de Dutch Volkskrant newspaper. Hans Aarsman is a photographer who analyses interesting news pictures. He has a very sharp eye for detail. This time he mentioned the square hole that spoils the marble wall. Could this be the the spot where Doug Mills stood, or was he using a selfie stick?